Michigan State had its first quiz of the season against UConn and unfortunately it didn’t get a passing grade. Luckily this was just a quiz and not a test because that’s when it really counts.
These exhibition games are perfect tune-ups for the regular season and Tom Izzo has had the luxury of befriending some elite coaches and scheduling preseason games against them so they can both get better. Izzo faced Tennessee and UConn in exhibition play previously and he got the return trip from Dan Hurley and the Huskies to the Breslin Center on Tuesday.
The Huskies came to East Lansing, controlled the game for 40 minutes, and exposed some flaws that the Spartans currently have heading into the regular season in less than two weeks.
Fortunately, these are flaws that can be fixed but one glaring weakness may be more of a long-term problem and Hurley pointed it out in his post-game presser.
It might just be Michigan State’s fatal flaw.
Hurley: "They (Michigan State) have everything they need to be a national contender, they just need to figure out the center spot."
— Spartans Illustrated (@Spartans_Illo) October 21, 2026
Tell us something we don’t know, Dan. The center position is definitely a weakness so far and that remains to be solved by Izzo, but thankfully it’s way too early to panic.
The center position was one of the issues on Tuesday when the Huskies came to town as Anton Bonke really struggled and only finished with six minutes while Ethan Taylor looked like the better of the two but still raw. Taylor probably has to be the starter right now while Bonke finds his footing — even though that was supposed to be the other way around.
Bonke’s struggles against UConn caused a lot of people to hammer that panic button with both hands, which is completely fair. He was supposed to be a more polished player but looked like a baby deer. He’s not fully comfortable or confident in himself yet.
That needs to change in a hurry with some big boys on the schedule, but these ones actually count. It was good to find this flaw early, now it’s time to correct it.
What could fix Michigan State’s potentially fatal flaw?
Izzo has a decision to make regarding that center position and he needs to act quickly with a final exhibition against Marquette coming up on Sunday afternoon and the regular season starting a week later.
Bonke will get another shot to prove himself on Sunday against Marquette, but it remains to be seen if that’s in a starting role. He could use a great showing against a lesser opponent.
What is going to help fix this quicker is giving Taylor some run with the ones on Sunday and giving him the start while he gets more comfortable. He is clearly the guy who’s going to give the starting lineup the highest ceiling so until Bonke is more comfortable, going with Taylor makes way more sense.
There’s another potential solution that’s not being talked about enough and that’s Jesse McCulloch starting at center. He’s more of a floor-stretching power forward but he’s proven in two exhibition games that he can get physical in the post and be a plus player on both ends.
Going with a lineup of Jeremy Fears, Jordan Scott, Coen Carr, Cam Ward, and McCulloch might make the most sense out of the three center options to start the year.
At least until Bonke and Taylor find their footing.
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